It's Not the Same Without You
by narusasudattebayo
Summary: The future will change drastically depending on what happens in the present. How would things have turned out if Sasuke had actually killed Naruto at The Valley of The End? NaruSasu/SasuNaru. Naruto, and all quotes from the original story belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
1. The Valley of the End

It was a mistake.

I tried to move my hand in the last second, but it all happened so fast. I couldn't stop myself. I delivered the fatal final blow to his heart, just when I realized what I was doing was so horribly wrong. I… I realized that this idiot meant so much more to me than revenge against my brother. He was the only one who truly understood me. The only one I could call my best friend. The one who I now realized I cared for more than just my best friend, and I can't just give that up for revenge.

But now, he's laying here in my arms losing consciousness, dying, because I didn't realize that in time.

"Sas…uke…" Naruto stared up at me. Light was fading from his eyes.

I stayed silent. I couldn't say anything. I could never say anything. I always made the wrong decisions, and now I'll be paying the price my whole life by doing so. I couldn't do anything but to acknowledge his last words. I locked my eyes with his to let him know I was listening.

"I… I always cared about you, Sasuke… I… I wanted to bring you home again. I just wanted things to be like they were, because without you… Nothing's the same. I… I wouldn't be the same without you. In that moment, right before our jutsus collided, and you did this… I realized something."

He reached for my hand, and I froze. When our hands interlocked, it was as if an electric current ran through my body. It felt nothing like chidori though, it was something much different. It made my heart beat faster. Don't tell me that he…

"Sasuke… I realized that you… More than anyone else… I love you." He smiled weakly, and I could feel strong emotions stir inside me. I could only feel pain and sadness. We… We realized at the exact same time, the exact same thing.

"Oi, Sasuke… I can tell from that look in your eyes how you feel. You don't have to say anything… But I just wanted to let you know that… Because this is the last time… I could be able to tell you that… I love you…" Naruto smiled as he managed to whisper those last words, and his bright blue eyes closed for the last time.

His hand loosened on mine. All expression left his face. His head fell to the side. I could feel it as his heart stopped beating. His tan skin was starting to turn pale, as all the heat left his body.

He was gone. Naruto was gone, and took the rest of my sanity with him. I was here holding on to a cold corpse of the only person that held any meaning to me, but I felt dead as well. For all I knew, I was just a living corpse now.

I trembled as I started to become overwhelmed with emotion. I clutched Naruto's corpse tightly against my chest as I started to shake and rock back and forth. Tears started streaming down my face just as it started to rain. I couldn't take it anymore. He was gone! He dreamed of being Hokage, and I destroyed it. I destroyed what could've been the greatest shinobi this world has ever seen. It was my fault. I should've never followed Itachi's orders. There could've been another way. No pain could compare to this. Not even the pain I felt when Itachi showed me how he killed my parents could compare. I killed him. I killed my other half. Thunder cracked as I screamed my sorrow throughout the valley.

It seemed like I stayed there for hours, crying and screaming while holding what was left of Naruto. The storm just got worse as my sadness intensified. Suddenly, I felt a familiar chakra signature heading our way. I couldn't let Kakashi find me. I glanced over at my fallen headband. Naruto's jutsu left a large gash in the middle of it. I had to leave this place quickly. I looked at Naruto, and slowly pressed my lips against his. They were so cold, but they felt just like him. I would give anything to know how this would have felt if he were alive. How it would have felt if he kissed me back.

I slowly laid him on the ground. Even though he was gone, it was still painful to part with what was left. I stood up and looked toward the heavens, and finally got the courage to say what I couldn't when he was alive.

"Naruto, I… I love you too."

I knew then what I had to do. I had to go to Orochimaru like how I originally planned. I had to get stronger. I had to become strong enough to kill Itachi, not only to avenge my clan, but also to avenge the death of Naruto. Itachi was the sole reason why he was dead. This pain I felt only turned into more hatred for Itachi.

As I was leaving the valley, I took one last look at Naruto, and then I turned to the enormous statues of two men. One of them I recognized to be Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and the other I didn't know, but he looked oddly familiar in a way. They called this place The Valley of the End, and it's ironic because Naruto's life ended here, but in a way, mine did as well. The only purpose for my life now, was revenge. All other reason was lost here.

I turned away, and started walking slowly towards Orochimaru's hideout. I could feel my chakra flow getting stronger, but I felt stronger than I ever had before. I was nearing the lake that fed into the waterfall at the valley. I walked over to it, and splashed water on my face. I looked the same; nothing was different on the outside. For some reason I felt the urge to activate my sharingan, and when I looked into the water again, I was shocked.

My eyes were completely different. They were black with three red intercepting ellipses that somewhat seemed shaped like a flower. The grief and sorrow I felt over Naruto's death caused me to obtain the Mangekyo Sharingan.

"_One day, when you have the same eyes as I do, come and stand before me!"_

I jumped as Itachi's words from that fateful night invaded my mind. I finally had the same eyes as him. Did he go through as much pain as I have? It didn't seem likely. However, I wasn't strong enough to face him yet. I had to become stronger. This strength gave me more ambition than I had before.

With that, I set off once more towards Orochimaru's hideout.


	2. Unwanted Visitors

Three years later.

* * *

"_Sasuke, can you hear me?"_

_I could hear a very familiar voice calling out my name, but for some reason I just couldn't reach out to it. It was a faint whisper that I could just barely make out. _

"_Sasuke, it's me! Please, I know you can hear me!"_

_The voice was getting louder. I should know who this is, but why can't I remember? Why is my brain not working? I looked around the dark area. There was nothing there but pure darkness. Am I going crazy? I don't understand. What am I doing? Where am I? Why am I surrounded by darkness?_

"_Sasuke! Help me!"_

_The scene suddenly turned into the middle of the Uchiha compound. A man stood before him that looked almost identical to him, except he was older, had longer hair, and had pronounced lines underneath his eyes. He was wearing a long black cloak with red clouds on it. His red Sharingan eyes were cold and lethal. Kneeling in front of him was a boy his age. He was very beaten up; his orange and black tracksuit was in shreds. He looked very familiar, but seemed older than what the image in his memory served. His blonde hair was a bit longer; he was larger, and more muscular. He stared up at me with large, pleading blue eyes. _

_Suddenly, everything became clear._

"_Itachi! Why… Why are you doing this?!" I yelled at the older man desperately._

_Itachi gave a small smirk. "In order to measure my vessel." He then raised his katana, and before I could react, he plunged it straight through the blonde's heart._

_I could feel my heart breaking all over again._

"_No… Naruto!"_

* * *

I screamed and opened my eyes. Cold sweat covered my body. I stared around the dark room and remembered where I was. It was just a dream. It was always just a dream.

Naruto was already dead.

The dreams happened every night. Some involved Itachi killing the clan, some involved me killing Naruto, and others involved Itachi killing Naruto while I could only stand there and watch. It was horrifying to say the least.

This time though, something was different. Naruto wasn't the same 13 year old kid that I last saw. He looked older for some reason, like we were the same age, as if I never killed him.

No, Naruto was certainly dead. I made sure of it that day. Nothing could change that.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I slowly sat up in my bed. It's not like I was going to be able to go back to sleep, anyway. Today was going to be somewhat eventful. Orochimaru and Kabuto had some business to take care of, and when they come back, Orochimaru is supposed to join me for some new jutsu training.

Things have been so boring over the past three years. I mostly trained by myself, while Orochimaru and Kabuto plotted their schemes and experimented on whatever and whoever they could get their hands on. I could honestly care less what they were doing; I had my own goals to take care of. Orochimaru still thinks he's getting my body to use. It's quite amusing that he thinks that, while I've grown much stronger than him already. Today's just another day to help prove that.

I stared off into space just to waste time. There wasn't much of anything else to do around here. However, every time I did that, my mind would wander to Naruto for whatever reason. It's already been three years since then, but the feelings I realized that day never wavered. There's not a day that I don't regret what I did. Knowing he's not on this Earth anymore makes me feel like a part of me is gone. Sometimes I wonder how life would've been if he were still here.

It makes me strive for my goal to kill Itachi even more.

* * *

After hours of sitting there in the large common room, waiting, Orochimaru, Kabuto, and a third person came back.

"You're late," I said, irritated.

"Don't be angry. Instead, I got a little present for you today…" Orochimaru turned to the other person. "This is a shinobi from the Leaf, just like you. You guys should be able to share nostalgic stories of home, right?"

I glared at this new person. He somewhat resembled me. I didn't like the fact that another new Leaf shinobi were here, and I definitely did not want to share nostalgic stories of this so called "home." There was nothing to tell anyway.

The new one spoke. "My name is Sai. So, you're Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Get lost. I don't want anything to do with you." I was very irritated. I left Konoha for a reason, and I didn't need constant reminders of things when I already had enough of them in my mind.

He decided to be persistent though. "I've heard a lot about you from Sakura, who's been looking for you for the past three years. She's told me a lot of things about you, and your old teammate, Naruto."

I narrowed my eyes at this remark. So he knew Sakura, eh? She must be chatty as ever, especially if she's telling someone about her ex-teammates, one of which she blindly loved that murdered the other that supposedly loved her. She must be great at dinner parties.

She didn't know the real story, though.

"There used to be a person like that, wasn't there?" I spat back. I didn't care what he had to say about her.

"She told me that you and Naruto were inseparable, and that back then, Naruto thought of you as a brother. I just wanted to see for myself how the man who murdered his best friend really was. It looks like you never cared about Naruto at all to be able to kill him like that."

I froze. Did he really just say that? This guy must have a death wish.

"I only have one brother. That is the man I have yet to kill. Neither you, nor Sakura know what the hell you're talking about. Leave me alone and stay the fuck out of my way while you're here." I turned back to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru. Training. Let's go."

With that, I left for the training grounds. If I would've stayed in there for one more second, I would've ripped the guy's head off. Who was he to go in there and say those things to me? He doesn't know me. He doesn't know what my motives are. He doesn't know the truth.

No one knows the truth.

* * *

After maybe three hours, I slowly headed back to my room.

Training wasn't all that special. Orochimaru kept lecturing me half the time over tedious things, and I got irritated. Not much got done, but I didn't really care. The new jutsu he was trying to teach me would only be useful for when he had taken over my body, which I won't be letting happen.

Even if I did care, all that was on my mind was what that guy said earlier. Is that what it really seemed like? This guy barely talked to me for a few seconds, and could already make a harsh judgment like that? Did the rest of Konoha believe I was just a ruthless, merciless killer that killed my best friend? I never actually thought about it before, but it was kind of unsettling. Not because I cared what other people thought, but because people were so quick to judge and come to conclusions when they didn't know what really happened.

I entered my room and lay on my bed, mentally and physically exhausted. Whatever they thought was up to them. I can't change what happened, and I can't change who I am just to please them. In my mind, I knew that what I was doing was right. I had to do this for my clan, and for Naruto.

I almost dozed off until I heard something outside of my door.

"Who's there?" I yelled out, even though I knew exactly who it was.

"Ah, so you've found me out?" Sai didn't seem surprised.

"Why are you here? What are your motives?" Somehow, I wasn't at all surprised by what he said next.

"I have been given orders from Konoha… to kill you."

After the initial attack, that set off an explosion and blew a gigantic hole in the cave and exposed it to higher ground, somehow Sai and I ended up in a physical struggle between our two swords.

"After all this time, Konoha finally decided to send someone to kill me?"

"Yes, you murdered a Leaf shinobi, and went to Orochimaru. You are a threat to Konoha, so you must be destroyed." Sai said blankly.

"I see."

Swords clashing and jutsus firing, I must admit, the guy was one of the best I've fought in a while. Konoha sent a great assassinator to kill me. However, they underestimated my power. I've grown at a very abnormal amount in the past 3 years, and I was stronger than him enough to not have to use my Mangekyo Sharingan, which I have successfully hidden from Orochimaru for the past three years.

It only took a few more minutes for him to become completely exhausted. I stood over him. I wasn't against killing people that weren't Itachi, but I was hesitant about it. However, he came here to kill me, so I had to finish him off so he wouldn't be in my way.

"Do you have any last words?" I stared at him directly in his eyes. The look in them was very familiar.

"I don't have any emotions, or feelings. I only live for the mission, and it seems that I have failed. However, I would like to ask you something." Sai stated blankly as ever.

"What?" I was somewhat annoyed by this.

"Do you feel any remorse for what you've done? Do you regret it?"

I pondered this question for a minute, just to see what his angle was. Of course I already knew the answer to that question. "I may seem heartless, but I'm not. I regret some things, but not all of them, for reasons you'll never understand. Would I change anything I've done if I had the chance? Just one thing. Everything I'm doing is for my own reasons, and I don't expect anyone to understand that. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes." Sai answered. Even if he didn't have emotions, it seemed as though he were already far away in his mind.

"Goodbye." I poured my chakra into my katana until a stable flow of electricity flowed through it, and took aim for his heart.

"Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Chidorigatana!" With a swift stab through the heart, and the electricity flowing through his nerves, his death was too quick for him to be able to feel anything.

Sai was dead.

I looked up just as I heard running from what used to be the hallway.

"Sasuke-kun?" The wide eyed pink haired girl stared at me, and then to the dead man that I stood over and still had my katana in.

I had come face to face with Haruno Sakura.

* * *

She stayed there staring and shaking while another man ran up behind her.

I stood up and put my katana back in it's sheath. I turned to face her with a cold stare.

"Sakura." I didn't have much to say to her, though it seemed she had many things to say.

Sakura's eyes just got wider. "Sasuke-kun? First Naruto… Now Sai? Why are you killing everyone? Why are you doing this?" She yelled with a new strength in her voice I've never heard before.

"The reason why doesn't concern you, but this guy," I pointed to the man I had just killed, "had been sent to kill me. It was either kill or be killed, and it's not my time for death just yet."

"I realized that. I ran here to make sure he wouldn't kill you, but it seems I didn't have to do that." Sakura sighed and suddenly her face turned cold. "But, 'the reason why doesn't concern me?' What the hell is that supposed to mean? The last time I saw Naruto alive, he promised me he would bring you back! He loved me so much that he promised to bring back the one I loved, the one I still love, just so I would be happy! Not a day goes by that I don't feel responsible for his death. He did it for me, and he died because of it. I lost both of my best friends that day. I can't get one of them back, but I've been fighting for the last three years to come and save you!"

"Sakura, you may have gotten stronger, but you couldn't be any more ignorant." I stared at her with a bored expression.

"What?" Sakura looked genuinely confused. It was kind of amusing how stupid she could be.

"Naruto didn't come after me just because he promised you. He came after me because he wanted to save me for his own reasons. Not everything is about you." Sakura looked pissed now. "You can't come and save me, because I'm not here to be saved. I chose to come here of my own reasons. We were never as close as you thought we were, so there's no reason for me to tell you my reasons. You were just a friend, nothing special, so it was quite easy to sever those bonds, along with the bonds I had with everyone else. Also, you should get rid of that stupid crush you've had on me. It's bothersome."

Sakura charged at me with a fistful of chakra. It was nothing I couldn't handle. Compared to myself, she was still weak. I gathered my own chakra into my hand and formed Chidori. I wasn't planning on killing her today, but I might as well, since she would only be in the way.

Right before I could hit her with my Chidori, the other guy that was in the back blocked her and took the hit for himself in his shoulder.

"Your judgment on your defense there wasn't very smart." I said blankly.

"Yamato-taichou!" Sakura screamed. She started tending to his wound, while staring up at me. "Sasuke-kun! How could you be so heartless? Stop what you're doing! I'm begging you! Come back to Konoha and be with the people you care about!"

"That's impossible, Sakura." I was completely tired of this conversation. "All of the people I care about are already dead."

Sakura stared at me in disbelief. "You can't mean that."

"It's the truth. Now I must get rid of you, or else you'll just be in my way." I started weaving the hand signs to my strongest jutsu, and raised my hand to gather power, when I was stopped by Orochimaru.

"There's no need to use that jutsu right now, Sasuke," Orochimaru said warningly, holding my arm.

"Let go of me." I was about to finish things, and he had to come ruin it.

"You really need to stop disrespecting Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto appeared on the other side of me.

"I was about to finish things, when you showed up," I said, irritated as usual.

"We need this girl here to help take care of the Akatsuki. She's already killed a member. Less Akatsuki members around would probably help your chances of revenge against Itachi," Kabuto stated.

I stared at Sakura. She wasn't that strong. If she took out an Akatsuki member, then she either must've been lucky, or they just weren't as strong as I thought.

"Whatever. If you think it would help, then so be it." I couldn't care less, as long as my goals weren't compromised.

"Now that that's settled, let's go," Orochimaru said. He was obviously displeased at the fact we had to relocate to another hideout earlier than what was planned, but it couldn't be helped.

Sakura stared at me with the same expression she always had, with that blind love I couldn't understand. It sickened me. It wasn't real love. She didn't understand what real love was, and all the raw emotions that came with it.

We teleported to the next hideout, and all I could think about was Naruto.

* * *

**AN: ***hides in corner* Uh, hi everyone. Thank you all for reading this. I hope you guys won't hate me too much. This chapter was loosely based on Naruto Shippuden episodes 47-53, I believe.

This is my first multi-chapter fic. I don't think I write very well, but I'm trying! I hope to update once a week. Feel free to leave a review, if you'd like. If you have any advice or anything, I'll gladly accept it.

If you want to keep tabs on me while I'm writing, or to bug me, feel free to follow me on tumblr: narusasudattebayo


End file.
